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I ran into Blick this weekend to pick up a brush pen. Once again, I was sucked down the watercolor isle (against my will — I don't know how this keeps happening)! This time I found a product I hadn't seen before: a Fluid 6 x 6 watercolor pad. It's fixed on two of its four sides, so not quite a block, though it works pretty much like one.

At just four bucks (it was on sale, and I get a discount), I had to give this a try.

And it worked pretty well! For four dollars, how could you go wrong?

I tend to brutalize my watercolor paper because of the amount of glazing I do; the layering process breaks down the paper surface really quickly. I keep trying various papers, and I always return to Arches. But this Fluid paper is really nice. While the paper did start breaking down after about the fourth layer of wash, it held up pretty well.

When I was removing the tape from the edges of the paper, the adhesive tore up the surface of the paper. This would never happen with Arches.

So while I will continue using this Fluid brand for easy, quick, no-risk pieces, I will return to Arches as my default paper.